The present invention relates to start control technique for an internal combustion engine having a variable valve operating mechanism to vary a valve opening/closing characteristic.
Internal combustion engines have been provided with various variable valve operating mechanisms to vary a valve opening/closing characteristic in accordance with an operating condition of the engine and thereby to improve a fuel economy at a low-revolution/light-load operation and an output torque at a high-revolution/heavy-load operation. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-234533 discloses a variable lift/angle mechanism capable of continuously varying both a valve lift amount and an operative angle of each intake valve.